HAMPTON, Va — It will be a busy weekend on Coliseum Drive in Hampton with the 54th annual Hampton Jazz and Music Festival.
Inside the Hampton Coliseum, the stage is set for big acts like KEM, Boyz II Men, and Coco Jones all weekend.
Watch: Hampton Jazz & Music Festival announces 2024 lineup
The name of the festival has changed this year, but the event is still expected to bring in a large crowd.
"We think it's like a $1.9 million dollar economic impact, about $1.2 million in lodging, and then the other thing of meals taxes and food like that," Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck, said.
Tuck said that for each night at least 3,500 tickets have been sold with tickets still on sale.
Watch: Hampton city leaders talk the Hampton Jazz & Music Festival
The concerts go on in the evening, but during the day and after the shows the 757 Extravaganza and Marketplace is giving visitors something to do.
"It just allows people to come in and enjoy a free space where they can eat, shop, dance, and move around," Hamilton Peoples, who helped organize the event, said.
Peoples said the extravaganza is in its fourth year with over 40 shops and more than a dozen food trucks set up and ready.
Hampton Roads business owners like Brian Vaughan, who helps run Be A J Juice Bar in Norfolk, is participating for the first time.
"It makes a difference, the most important thing is marketing," Vaughan said. "We're getting out here to different people and different cities."
Meanwhile, other sellers like Abdul Aeiz who traveled from Harlem, New York to set up his shop, Aeiz Fashion, said this is his second year setting up inside the convention center.
"I came here before for the Jazz Legacy Foundation Gala that happened in the same building in November so it's a city of Jazz here and we like coming here," Aeiz said.
Watch: 53rd Hampton Jazz Festival kicks off
Concerts begin at the festival at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The 757 Extravaganza and Marketplace will be open from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Events will also be going on from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
